Influence of Diffusing Impurities on the Electrical Conductivity of Single-Crystal and Polycrystalline Metal Films

摘要

The electrical-transport properties of thin single-crystal and polycrystalline metal films coated with an ultra-thin metallic layer of diffusing impurities are theoretically investigated. Analyzing changes of the electrical conductivity caused by the diffusion annealing, we investigate the processes of the bulk diffusion and the grain-boundary diffusion, Both the effective penetration depth of the diffusing atoms into the bulk of a sample and the penetration depth along the grain boundaries may be determined; the coefficients of bulk and grain-boundary diffusions may be estimated. The electrical conductivity is calculated within our model, and numerical analysis of the diffusion-annealing time dependence at various parameters is performed.